IDC: Explosive Growth for Mobile Enterprise Email in Asia/Pacific by 2010

According to IDC, "the number of mobile enterprise email subscribers will increase in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) region from 0.74 million in 2006 to 2.72 million in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.2%. Significant growth will come when mobile email proliferates within the ranks of the middle management and the frontline staff and offer cost efficiencies for the enterprise."

Shalini Verma at IDC said, “Carriers are offering multiple mobile email solutions originating from competing mobile email providers, to the enterprise customers. As the competition heats up in the mobile enterprise email space, the solutions that cater to the specific requirements of the customers in the region and offer the best deal to the carrier will find their way into the enterprises. For solutions vendors, securing a deal with the carrier is only half the battle won. The real challenge will be to convert these partnerships into customer acquisitions.”

IDC believes that "Mobile enterprise email is at a warm-up stage in Asia/Pacific, and the vendors are pulling out all the stops to prepare for the big race ahead. The ecosystem for mobile enterprise email is firming up as mobile email players are turning their attention to the region and making a beeline for carriers to engage them in distribution deals."

The firm noted that "carriers recognize varying needs among different enterprises and are therefore offering multiple solutions to the end-users. Many carriers offer a BlackBerry solution along with their own branded mobile email service from players such as Seven. Players such as Visto and Good Technologies are also increasing their presence in the region. The entry of large players such as Nokia (NOK) and Microsoft (MSFT) has created new momentum in the marketplace."